A game device is a prop or piece of hardware that lives inside one room — the maglock on the final door, the reed switch on a drawer, the keypad on a puzzle, the RGB strip behind a panel. The Devices tab is where you add a room’s hardware, name it, and set how it solves objectives and resets between games.
Open the Editor, choose your game, and go to the Devices tab.
Game devices vs. system devices
This page is about hardware that belongs to one room — the props and locks in its puzzle flow. Gear that runs your whole location — lobby lighting, the open/closed sign, background music, schedule-driven hardware — lives in System → Devices instead. The connection a device rides on is shared, but the device itself belongs either to a game or to the system.
Connections come first
A device always talks to ARC through a connection — the bridge to a protocol or piece of gear (MQTT, Z-Wave, DMX, a Raspberry Pi, and so on). You add connections once, for your whole location, under System → Connections. Once a connection is in place, its devices become available to add here.
If you don’t see the device kind you expect when adding a device, the matching connection probably isn’t set up yet — add it in System first.
Device kinds
When you add a device, ARC asks what kind it is. The kind tells ARC how the device behaves on its connection.
| Device kind | Built on | What you configure |
|---|---|---|
| MQTT | An MQTT connection | A topic for the device. Basic mode is read-only; Advanced mode adds properties and commands so ARC can also control it. |
| PLC | A PLC (Modbus) connection | One Modbus address mapped to this device — read or write a coil or register. |
| Bluetooth | A Bluetooth Gateway | Adopt a BLE device (such as a Shelly BLU) by its BLE device ID. |
| Display bridge | A Raspberry Pi or Windows Bridge | Bind a room screen to a display role. |
| Z-Wave | A Z-Wave connection | Pick the node and value — contact sensor, motion, switch, dimmer, button, temperature, or humidity. |
| DMX | A DMX connection | Map named channels to DMX addresses. |
| Zigbee | A Zigbee connection | Pick the paired device and a capability — button, power, brightness, color, contact, motion, temperature, and more. |
| Hue | A Hue connection | Choose a light, scene, or group from the connected Hue bridge. |
| OSC | An OSC connection | Listen for or send OSC messages at an address. |
| Raspberry Pi (GPIO) | A Raspberry Pi connection | Bundle BCM GPIO pins for digital input/output and PWM. This kind is game-scoped only. |
Where to set the protocol up
The protocol setup for each kind — pairing a Z-Wave node, mapping DMX channels, adding an MQTT broker — happens once at the connection level. See System → Connections for adding each connection type.
Add a game device
The details differ by kind, but the shape is the same.
- Open your game and go to the Devices tab.
- Add a device, then choose the kind that matches your hardware.
- Select the connection this device talks through.
- Fill in the kind-specific details — a topic, a node and value, a Modbus address.
- Give it a clear name staff will recognize, like "Final Door Maglock" or "Safe Keypad."
- Set its solved and reset states (below), then save.
Solved and reset states
Two states make a device useful inside a game:
- Solved state — the value that means the puzzle is done (the lock reads “open,” the switch reads “closed”). You can link an objective to a device’s solved state so the objective auto-completes the instant the room is solved.
- Reset state — the value the device should hold at the start of a game (a maglock “locked,” a light “off”). ARC sends this saved value when the room resets, for any device flagged to reset automatically.
Reset and readiness flags: GRS, GSM, RST
Between games a room has to return to its starting state, and staff need to know when that’s done. ARC handles this with three flags you set per device. They appear as small badges — GRS, GSM, and RST.
| Flag | Badge | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Include in Game Reset System | GRS | The device counts toward the reset flow. It appears on the reset checklist and must be handled before the room is considered reset. |
| Include in Game System Monitor | GSM | The device counts toward Game Ready status and the room’s health checks. ARC watches it to decide whether the room is ready to run. |
| Reset automatically | RST | During a reset, ARC sends the device’s saved reset value for you — no manual step needed. |
A device can carry any mix of these. A maglock might be GRS + GSM + RST — it’s part of reset, it gates readiness, and ARC relocks it for you. A purely informational sensor might carry none.
Flag the game-critical devices
Make sure every device that must be right before a game — the final lock, the door sensor, the key prop — carries GSM so it gates readiness and GRS so it’s part of the reset. A game-critical device left off these flags can let a room report ready when it isn’t.
Device status
Each device shows a status badge so staff and builders can see its state at a glance: Active (connected and reporting), Idle (quiet), Pending (being set up or not reporting yet), Ignored (set aside), Error (not responding as expected), and Inactive (off). Where the hardware supports it, ARC also shows live telemetry — online/offline, last seen, battery %, and signal strength.
Resolve Error and Pending before a game
An Error or stuck Pending badge usually means a connection problem — a broker that’s down, a controller that’s unplugged, a device that’s lost power. Clear these before opening the room.
Where to go next
- Objectives — auto-complete an objective from a device’s solved state.
- Panels — group a puzzle area’s devices into a control-page panel.
- Automations — react to a device or send it a command.
- System → Connections — add the connection a device rides on.
- Resetting a room — how the GRS flags drive the reset staff run between games.